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Le cygne jaune (Miklo)
Le cygne jaune (The Yellow Swan) was the first in a series of graphic novels published in French by the Belgian publisher Emissions Lefrancq from 1990 onwards. Le cygne jaune was published in 1990 with story and artwork by Francis Bergèse, who did most of the early books in the series. The book was reprinted by Belgian publisher Miklo in 1998 and then by Le Lombard in 2003. Translations of the book exist in Dutch and German. Red Fox published an English translation in 1996 retitled Biggles Flying Detective. A different English translation was published by Euro Books (India) in 2007 under the title The Yellow Swan. This book was the first in the series where Algy was depicted with red hair and an alarmingly large handle-bar moustache. Ginger has blonde hair. Synopsis Le Cygne Jaune is a graphic novel adaptation of Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.. The Second World War is over and Air Commodore Raymond urgently persuades Biggles, Algy, Ginger and Bertie to join a special unit at Scotland Yard specialising in crimes committed with aircraft. They must move quickly as there has been a series of spectacular jewel robberies and the robbers appear to be able to move over great distances at high speeds. Plot (Click on expand to read) The adaptation of the original novel is faithful in most respects and done with great detail. There are a few minor changes: *Minor characters like Freddie Lavers and Saunders are dropped. Burradidi appears but is not given a name. *The steward of the B.O.A.C. flying boat becomes a stewardess. *The intervention of the Touregs at El Zufra is not depicted. *There is a third pilot for the gang and he is shot down by Bertie as in the original novel, but he is not named, and is certainly not von Zoyton. Biggles speaks to him but doesn't show any sign of knowing him. *The final engagement where the Spur shoots down Baumer in the Renkell transport takes place at night. *After shooting Gontermann, Biggles doesn't fly back to England to report as in the original novel. He radios Algy and Bertie who are flying a Mosquito. He asks them to call the French authorities at Algiers to send a tanker to refuel the Spur. Biggles and Ginger then spend the night in the desert. Characters The Special Air Police *Air Commodore Raymond *Biggles *Algy Lacey *Ginger Hebblethwaite *Bertie Lissie Friends and allies *Wing Commander Howath *Wilks *Flying Officer Collingwood *Sergeant Mahmud *Burradidi - appears in this adaptation but is not named. Others *Ludwig Renkell *Kurt Baumer *Julius Hans Gontermann *Max Grindler *Generaloberst Keller *Rudolf Preuss *Carlos Scaroni *Franz Schneider Aircraft *De Havilland Mosquito *Spur *Short Empire - Cordelia *Avro Lancaster *De Havilland Tiger Moth *Caproni Ca.148 *Renkell Swan *Renkell Wolf *Renkell transport *Avro York - seen in background at Croydon Ships *''Rajah'' Places Visited *Rawlham *Croydon *Augsburg **Hotel Colon *Bahrein *Castel Benito *El Zufra *Alexandria *Khartoum Research notes *The ranks of various British characters have been changed, although we can only speculate as to the reason. **Biggles is a Wing Commander, and so is Wilks (he was a Group Captain in the original novel). Bergèse probably wanted to make things more consistent. Wilks and Biggles had been equals for most of their careers, so it would have been strange that Wilks became a Group Captain while Biggles remained two ranks below at Squadron Leader. **Algy becomes a Squadron Leader and Ginger is a Flying Officer. Quite understandable. One could hardly have done so much in the war with nothing to show for it! **Strangely, Raymond becomes a Group Captain! There is no reason for this at all. **For some reason, Flying Officer Collingwood becomes a Lieutenant. This is a slip-up in the usual attention to detail. *The Calpurnia Short Empire flying boat becomes the Cordelia and is drawn with the historically accurate registration letters G-AEUD. Again, this could have been a quest for accuracy. The Calpurnia crashed in 1938. *The aircraft markings of the Ethiopian Air Force are accurately drawn. *The registration letters of the Spur, G-AGZZ, and the first Mosquito, G-AGHY, actually belong to Tiger Moths. The second Mosquito, G-AGMI belongs to a Luscombe 8E light aircraft.G-INFO UK aircaft registrations Illustrations Editions References Category:Derivative works